C2E2: Mystery Man - BRIAN BENDIS on ULTIMATE COMICS MYSTERY

Marvel announced Friday at C2E2 what many fans already suspected: Ultimate Comics Enemy is getting two sequels that will reveal more about the already-established threat to the Ultimate Universe.

Ultimate Comics Mystery, a four-issue mini-series, will pick up where the current Ultimate Comics Enemy leaves off after introducing a mysterious threat to the characters in the Ultimate Universe. It's part of a trilogy that writer Brian Michael Bendis is building, with the final installment, Ultimate Comics Doom, ending the story later this year.

"The mystery is now, who is the person who has done these evil things to the world? And why are they doing it?" Bendis told Newsarama. "And how does this person know so many secrets about Nick Fury and Spider-Man? They're attacking by using these secrets. Who could it be who's doing this?

"We're in the middle of what I think is a pretty fun story and there's a big mystery," the writer said. "We don't want to reveal who the bad person is behind all this. But I will tell you that you'll find out who the bad person is in this mini-series, in Ultimate Comics Mystery... That mystery will be solved in this mini-series by a whole slew of characters."

Bendis said it's difficult to describe what's going to happen in the second mini-series because it will give away plot points, as well as the identity of the villain behind the attacks.

"This is a tough one to talk about, and I always apologize for that, because it's a lot like, when Warren Ellis was doing "Ultimate Galactus," and they didn't want to call it Ultimate Galactus," he said. "They didn't want to reveal it. And we're kind of in the same place."

Despite the secrecy, Bendis said he could promise this event would be something that has never been seen before in the Ultimate Universe -- nor the Marvel Universe.

"That's what's opened up for us is this opportunity to tell these really big stories that aren't just Ultimate versions of other stories, or tweaks of classic stories," Bendis said. "They're all filled with all kinds of brand new ideas, and all these characters are put into new places and new situations."

Many readers have guessed that these promises of something "new" indicates that a new villain will be introduced, since the Ultimate Universe is no longer just re-interpreting old villains. While Bendis wouldn't confirm that idea, he said all the details about the villain's motivation will be explored in Ultimate Comics Mystery.

So far, Ultimate Comics Enemy has featured the Ultimate versions of Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Invisible Woman, Thing, Nick Fury, Ice Man, Human Torch and Kitty Pryde. Bendis said the heroes' story will continue into Ultimate Comics Mystery.

"You're going to see a lot of stuff happen to Spider-Man and The Thing and Captain Marvel and Spider-Woman," Bendis said.

Readers will also get more artwork by Rafa Sandoval, whose pencils have gotten positive reviews from pundits and fans alike. "Rafa's work is really great," Bendis said. "He really is something. As people have seen in Ultimate Enemy, his stuff is really, really awesome, and it just gets better every issue."

Bendis said that even though Ultimate Comics Mystery is the second part in a trilogy, readers should be able to understand what's happening in the first issue of the mini. "You can hop on with this #1 issue, at the beginning of this story," he said.